AKRON, Ohio — Deborah Politz has a heart condition, and her medical service dog "Kaylee" helps keep her safe inside her home on 17th Street SW in Akron.
"She brings my medication bag to me for my heart, and if I go down, she helps me out," Politz said.
However, the 65-year-old woman said she also worries about the possibility of her or her husband tripping and falling because of the very uneven sidewalk in front of her house.
"It's bad. It's really bad," she said, "I'm very worried because we walk across that and the chances of one of us falling and breaking a hip."
The family even put up lights on the front of the house to guard against falls and cameras in case someone goes down.
Politz, who has lived in the home since she was 4 years old, said roots from a tree have pushed up the sidewalk over the years, making it a tripping hazard.
"It get worse every year. It raises up a little bit higher and higher," she said.
There are examples of sidewalks in bad shape all over town. Many are uneven with big drops. Others have sizable cracks or just falling apart from old age.
When a News 5 reporter posed a question on an Akron Facebook group page about which streets have the worst sidewalks, dozens of responses came in naming different streets in multiple neighborhoods.
"You kind of walk around the neighborhoods and you see issues all over the place that need addressed, but it's kind of eating the elephant one bite at a time," said Travis Capper, Akron's city engineer.
This week, Mayor Shammas Malik announced the city's capital budget was approved. It includes $1 million for the sidewalk repair program.
According to Capper, it's the most amount of money the city has allocated for fixing up sidewalks in the program's 20-year history.
Still, a backlog of requests persists, leaving some residents frustrated.
"We're probably a two or three-year waiting list," Capper said.
Capper said the extra money in the 2024 budget puts more sidewalk repair projects in the more immediate pipeline.
At this point, 264 properties have been approved for this year, which would be an increase of more than 80 in 2023.
However, there are still over 400 requests on the waiting list. Capper said residents who want sidewalks replaced have to sign a petition because assessments could be involved.
The city will pick up the cost of repairs if the damage to the sidewalk is caused by city-owned trees on lawn strips, also known as devil strips.
Other sidewalk repairs, though, could potentially cost homeowners a couple hundred bucks or more.
"You can pay up front when the bill is due or you can add it to your taxes and then it's paid back over 10 years," Capper said.
Politz plans to add her bulging sidewalk to the waiting list. In the meantime, she'll walk carefully with her service dog outside of her home.
"That would be wonderful if we could have it replaced."
Complaints of sidewalks in need of repair can be made through the 311 link on the city's website, calling 311 or using the new "MyAkron311" app.
